Less than one month after being hit with a fastball that resulted in a microfracture in his left wrist, Atlanta Braves shortstop Orlando Arcia returned to the lineup on Sunday afternoon. Still in a cast just two weeks ago, Arcia eschewed any injury-rehab assignments, going 1 for 4 with two strikeouts in his return to the lineup during the Braves' 3-2 victory in extra innings yesterday.
The decision to activate Arcia resulted in Vaughn Grissom being sent back down to Triple-A Gwinnett. The recent injury of Ehire Adrianza opened the door for utility infielder Braden Shewmake to be promoted from Gwinnett, making his Major League debut Friday. He went hitless in four at-bats.
Shewmake provides a little more depth compared to that of Grissom due to his ability to play both second base and shortstop. During “From the Diamond with Grant McAuley," Grant examined the situation and wondered what did Grissom NOT do to win the starting shortstop job?
“I didn’t really feel like Orlando Arcia came into Spring Training with a major claim on it as opposed to Vaughn Grissom, obviously, who got a lot of talk all winter long and, as a 22-year-old, profiles as the kind of prospect that you’d might want to build around at that position,” McAuley said. "In 19 appearances for the Braves this season, Grissom is hitting .277 with stats that are comparable to those of Arcia. It would appear, for now, that Ron Washington and Brian Snitker have a little more confidence in Arcia from a defensive standpoint due to Grissom’s team-leading six errors this season.
As he showed again Sunday, both offensively and defensively, Arcia is much better suited to help the Braves win now than Grissom or Shewmake, especially given the limited playing time Grissom has at shortstop at the major-league level and Shewmake’s overall inexperience.
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